Munley officiates at county court's first gay marriage

Samantha Skop, left and Jessica Marie Latham are married by Lackawanna County President Judge Thomas Munley in his courtroom Tuesday morning. The ceremony is the first same sex civil union in the building. Michael J. Mullen / Staff Photographer

As the ceremony ended, Jessica M. Latham and Samantha M. Skop turned to each other the way couples in their shoes have for centuries.

Ms. Latham lifted Ms. Skop’s veil. They kissed to seal their union.

In a courtroom where heartache often rules but where judges strive to serve justice, the young couple married Tuesday in the Lackawanna County Courthouse with President Judge Thomas J. Munley officiating in the first same-sex wedding in the county court’s history.

Ms. Latham and Ms. Skop weren’t the first gay couple to marry in the county. That happened last Friday when Clarks Summit Mayor Patty Lawler presided at the marriage of two men, said county Register of Wills Fran Kovaleski, whose office issues marriage licenses. The excitement was still palpable, with delighted court employees joining Ms. Skop’s family members to watch the historic event.

“This is a proud moment for these women, and it’s a proud moment for their families. It’s a proud moment for me and it’s a proud moment for Lackawanna County,” Judge Munley said. “I’m happy that all discriminatory laws are thrown (on) the garbage heap.”

U.S. District Judge John E. Jones III made the ceremony possible when he declared the state’s ban on gay marriage unconstitutional May 20.

Judge Munley unintentionally drove home the legality of the day when he asked the questions marrying couples have long heard.

“If anyone can show just cause why they may not be lawfully joined together, let that person now speak or else hereafter forever hold your peace,” he said. No one said a word.

“Jessica, I’ll address you first,” the judge said. “Will you have this woman to be yours in marriage, to live with her in the state of matrimony? Will you love her, will you comfort her, will you keep her in sickness and in health and, forsaking all others, keep her only unto yourself as long as you shall live?”

“I do,” Ms. Latham said.

“I do,” Ms. Skop said after hearing the judge repeat the questions for her.

At that point, Ms. Latham placed a ring on Ms. Skop’s left ring finger. Ms. Skop placed a rubber band on Ms. Latham’s ring finger, a placeholder until she they could find another ring.

“This is what happens when you propose and expect to get married a week later,” Ms. Latham said.

The couple had to go to greater lengths to make it all legal. At 17, Ms. Skop, a Scranton resident, needed a parent’s permission, but her mother, Yadira Montalvo, who is also gay, gave her blessing. She sat nearby and teared up.

“We were pretty excited, it made things a lot easier,” Ms. Latham said.

The couple met about a year ago at a gay night club in Luzerne County, and began dating about six months ago. On Tuesday, they smiled and giggled at reporters’ questions.

“Awesome,” Ms. Latham said of being married.

“Wonderful,” Ms. Skop said almost simultaneously.

They wanted to marry now because Ms. Latham, an Army private first class stationed at Fort Hood, Tex., heads for Afghanistan in two weeks.

Judge Munley, an Army veteran of Vietnam who said he was happy to see the legal system he fought for protect the women’s right to marry, insisted on joining the newlyweds in posing for a photograph. He congratulated them and said what people normally say on these occasions.

“Good luck,” he said.

Contact the writer: bkrawczeniuk@timesshamrock.com

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